Poll again shows Jean Quan leading Oakland mayor's race

CORRECTION (Published 5/11/2014) A story incorrectly reported the results of an Oakland mayoral poll and the number of people polled. The poll queried 400 likely Oakland voters, and Councilwoman Libby Schaaf received 15 percent of first-place votes.

OAKLAND -- The latest poll from an Oakland pro-business group once again finds Mayor Jean Quan leading a crowded field of challengers in November's mayoral election despite low approval ratings.

A survey of 400 likely voters commissioned last month by the Jobs and Housing Coalition found Quan winning 20 percent of first-place votes. It also found strong support for a ballot initiative to sharply increase the minimum wage and growing satisfaction with Oakland's quality of life.

Mayor Jean Quan attending a press conference at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater at an event for "Warriors Week" in late October. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Under Oakland's ranked-choice voting system, Quan would have defeated Schaaf 53 percent to 47 percent, the poll found. The business group's previous poll in November showed Quan narrowly defeating Tuman, whose support tumbled even though his approval rating remained strong.

Parker, who launched an early ad blitz, was better known and more liked by voters than in November, the poll found, but that didn't translate into more support. Quan's job ratings remained low. Only 30 percent of respondents said they approved of her work as mayor, while 57 percent disapproved. Moreover, 59 percent of respondents said they would like to see Quan replaced as mayor.

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The polling took place over the last three days of April. For citywide races, the margin of error was 4.9 percent.

Jobs and Housing Coalition President and CEO Greg McConnell cautioned against reading too much into the poll, noting that a quarter of respondents were undecided about the mayor's race.

Also, the poll, conducted by David Binder Research, did not include Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan. Many City Hall watchers expect Kaplan to enter the mayoral race. And she led the field in the group's November poll.

Instead, the poll asks respondents about former Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, who said again Friday that he will not run. De La Fuente polled 13 percent, which placed him third behind Quan and Schaaf. McConnell said his organization included De La Fuente to test candidates against a well-known city politician. Polling data that had been shared with this paper did not show who De Le Fuente supporters would have backed if he weren't among the listed candidates.

A union-backed ballot initiative to increase Oakland's minimum wage from $8 to $12.25 per hour had the support of nearly three-quarters of respondents, as did a potential alternative initiative to phase in a higher minimum wage over several years in Oakland and neighboring cities.

Asked about quality of life in Oakland, voters were evenly spit. That's a big change over November, when only 16 percent of respondents said quality of life had improved, and 36 percent said it had gotten worse.

When it comes to council races, the poll showed former KPIX news anchor Dana King with an early 27 percent to 7 percent lead over Peralta Community College Trustee Abel Guillén in District 2 and Councilwoman Desley Brooks with a 27 point edge over her nearest competitor in District 6. In District 4, school board member Anne Campbell Washington had a slight lead over Jill Broadhurst.